Iran reconsidering list of disqualified presidential candidates

Iran’s election authority announced Friday that it will review its disqualification of candidates from this month’s presidential election after the selection process received criticism from Iran’s Supreme Leader. 

Iranians will head to the polls June 18 to vote on outgoing President Hassan Rouhani’s successor. The Guardian Council, a 12-member body that vets potential candidates, announced last month that it had selected seven of roughly 600 candidates to appear on the ballot. Of that group, five are conservatives and two are reformists. 

“In the vetting process some candidates were wronged,” the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted, without specifying which candidates. “They were accused of untrue things that were unfortunately spread throughout the internet too."

“Protecting people’s honor is one of the most important issues. I call on the responsible bodies to restore their honor,” Khamenei added.